To invite people to reconnect with the area, The Rocks hosts a number of events each year. In this case, our brief was to create a poster campaign for The Village Bizarre – a colourful celebration of the people of The Rocks. A chance to display the new brand identity, it needed to showcase the artistry and craft of the creative community, with the ultimate goal being to inspire more locals and tourists to attend.

We asked Australia’s top artisans (including paper engineers, chocolatiers and make-up artists) to help us create four weird and wonderful characters via a series of masks. Each mask was painstakingly made by hand, and represented not only each artist’s individual talents but also the event’s four key offerings – art, markets, performance and food. Every image used on the posters was created in-camera with minimal re-touching, celebrating the authenticity of the area.

The campaign imagery is colourful, abstract and intriguing. Each poster has become an artwork in itself, championing the skill and dedication of local artisans while collectively displaying the diversity of craft in the precinct. And it seems to have worked, with The Village Bizarre going on to record one of its most successful years ever. Over 103,000 people attended – 15% more than in 2013 – while web and mobile visits increased by 22% and 61% respectively. A truly fantastic result for The Rocks, and all of its colourful characters.

In the heart of Sydney is The Rocks, Australia’s oldest town. Known for its heritage buildings and small, cobbled laneways, it’s where European settlers first came ashore in 1788. But although the area is a hub for skillful artisans and craftsmen, it has garnered an unfair reputation as something of a tourist trap. So in 2014 we re-branded the precinct, positioning it around the idea of ‘made by many hands’. In doing so we managed to reinvigorate the sense of romance and authenticity that had almost been forgotten.